Trivia: Personifying the type of teen spirit most commonly found in Noxzema ads and pep squad meets, actress Jennifer Love Hewitt has brought new meaning to the word "effervescent." The 1990s saw Hewitt go from relative obscurity to a bona fide teen queen, to say nothing of one of the most frequently enshrined actresses on the Internet.Hewitt was born on February 21, 1979 in Waco, TX. She made her first appearance on television in 1984 in the show Kids Incorporated (which, coincidentally, once guest-starred Scott Wolf, her Party of Five co-star). She also did a multitude of commercials, even doing a stint as a LA Gear spokesgirl at the age of ten. After spending the majority of the 80s working in television, Hewitt got her first film role in the 1993 film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, but it wasn't until she got her big break as Sarah Reeves on Party of Five (1994) that she began to gain recognition. More recognition came, first in the form of Trojan War (1997), and then from I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). The film, which capitalized on the growing trend in teen horror flicks catalyzed by Wes Craven's Scream (1996), proved to be immensely popular among audiences, if not critics. It was predictably followed by a sequel, the aptly titled I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998). In addition to her film work, which also included 1998's Can't Hardly Wait, Hewitt maintained her role in Party of Five and continued to star in commercials, most notably as the Neutrogena spokesgirl.

Trivia: Multi-talented Billy Connolly is a world-famous comic, an actor on stage, screen, and television, a playwright, and a folk musician. Connolly was born on the kitchen floor of a Glasgow tenement in 1942. During the war, his father William joined the Royal Air Force and due to the stress of separation, his marriage to Connolly's mother disintegrated, leaving William in charge of raising Connolly and his little sister, Flo. He in turn sent the children to live with his two sisters, which made for a difficult home life as they resented their new responsibilities. At age 15, Connolly left school and worked as a delivery boy at a bookstore and then a bakery until he was old enough to work in the shipyards. In 1960, Connolly began a five-year welding apprenticeship. He left in the early '60s to join the Parachute regiment of the Territorial Army and during his stint completed 17 parachute jumps. After leaving the military, he finished his welding apprenticeship and took a job constructing an oil rig in Biafra, Nigeria. The work was unpleasant and eventually he returned to Glasgow.An episode of The Beverly Hillbillies inspired Connolly to buy a banjo and, following experience in other folky bands, founded the Humblebums with guitarist Tam Harvey. They were later joined by pop singer Gerry Rafferty. Their music, coupled with Connolly's joke-telling between songs, led to considerable popularity, and the Humblebums enjoyed the wild life of touring, partying, and doing everything excessively. Due to his growing tendency to dominate their concerts with comedy, he and Rafferty had a falling out and the group disbanded in 1971 while they were in London. Connolly stayed and worked on his comedy career. By 1975, he had become a roaring success and was touring like a madman. In 1977, he wrote his first play, the unsuccessful An' Me Wi' A Bad Leg, Tae. Actually, none of his subsequent plays were as successful as his irreverent and sometimes coarse standup routines. In 1979, Connolly made his film debut in Absolution, a drama starring Richard Burton. By the 1980s, Connolly had become a superstar in the U.K. and was having trouble with privacy issues, drinking, and exhaustion. He was involved in a bitter divorce/custody battle with his first wife, and his girlfriend Pamela Stephensen was pregnant. His divorce was granted in 1985 and he received custody of his two children. In the late '80s, Stephenson was working on Saturday Night Live in New York; Connolly periodically guested on the show and on David Letterman. He also did an HBO special with Whoopie Goldberg. In 1989, Connolly starred opposite Liam Neeson in The Big Man, married Stephenson, and replaced Howard Hesseman in the American sitcom Head of the Class. He proved successful and Warners signed a two-year contract with him. But the series was canceled and so Connolly was hired to portray the same character in a new sitcom, Billy, which was based on the film Green Card. He and his family decided to remain in the U.S.; shortly after settling in, the series was canceled. He made a cameo appearance in Indecent Proposal in 1992 and the following year returned to Glasgow to appear in Down Among the Big Boys. Since then he has become more involved with BBC television, notably in a fascinating tour of Scotland that resulted in his winning a Scottish BAFTA award. He also won a Best Arts Programme award for the BBC production The Bigger Picture and a Best Drama award for Down Among the Big Boys. Connolly continued his U.S. film career and even occasionally made guest appearances on U.S. television as he did in the short-lived 1996-1997 sitcom Pearl. Connolly received the best reviews for any of his dramatic work playing opposite Judi Dench in the engaging drama Mrs. Brown. He continued to balance a respected career as a stand-up comic with work in small films such as Beverly Hills Ninja, The Boondock Saints, Who Is Cletus Trout, and An Everlasting Piece. He scored a dramatic role in a big American film with his appearance in The Last Samurai opposite Tom Cruise, and was one of the many funny people who contributed to The Aristocrats. In 2006 Connolly kept the laughs coming opposite Jim Carrey in the highly stylized Brad Siberling comedy Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and an appearance as a vile lord with lofty designs for the future in Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties. A vocal performance as a rogue squirrel in the computer animated adventure Open Season marked the first time Connolly had returned to the world of animation since the 1995 Disney musical Pocohontas. Connolly would continue to remain an active force in entertainment for years to come, appearing in movies like the comedy-horror Fido, and the fantasy adventure film Gulliver's Travels.

Trivia: Ian Abercrombie achieved broadest recognition in the mid-'90s for his work in character roles, principally stuffy upper-crust types, including Mr. Pitt, Elaine's employer on Seinfeld, Alfred the butler in the series Birds of Prey, and the staid auctioneer in the climactic sequence of Mouse Hunt. Abercrombie was born in 1936 to a working-class English family, and he showed a natural interest in performing from an early age, taking up tap dancing as a boy. At 17, he left for New York and pursued the beginnings of a career on stage -- among his early engagements, he appeared in a 1955 production of Stalag 17 starring Jason Robards Jr., and he understudied Roddy McDowall in a stock production of Bell, Book and Candle that also starred Maria Riva, the daughter of Marlene Dietrich. He did a short stint in the army, in Special Services, where he directed plays as well as acting in them. A trip to California for a production of a play about W.C. Fields that never materialized ended up putting Abercrombie into movies, and over the next few years he played small roles in pictures like Von Ryan's Express, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, The Molly Maguires, and Young Frankenstein, as well as leading parts in theatrical productions of The Vortex and Crucifer of Blood. Abercrombie was working steadily for most of the 1980s and beyond, appearing in such movies as Army of Darkness, Wild Wild West, and The Lost World. It was with his portrayal on Seinfeld of Mr. Pitt -- lovably eccentric and just sufficiently full of himself to put Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Elaine on the defensive -- that Abercrombie became an actor whose name and face were remembered by the general public. He remained active on prime time television portraying Alfred the butler in the Warner Bros. television series Birds of Prey, while also doing a huge amount of voice-over and radio work, as well as a one-man show entitled Jean Cocteau -- A Mirror Image. Back on the big screen, Ambercrombie could be spotted in both the family comedy Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties and David Lynch's Inland Empire in 2006. Abercrombie died of kidney failure at age 77 in early 2012, not long after being diagnosed with lymphoma.

Trivia: With his dark eyes and small frame, the classically trained British actor Roger Rees was perfectly cast as Nicholas Nickleby in the theatrical production of Dickens' novel. He performed this lead role with the Royal Shakespeare Company, earning him a Tony award, Olivier award, and an Emmy nomination for the televised version in the early '80s. He performed with the company since 1968, when he worked as a scenery painter. Perhaps he is most recognized for his role as Robin Colcord, Kirstie Alley's wealthy jet-set boyfriend on Cheers during the 1989 season. He also had a memorable role as Melvin, the Sheriff of Rotingham in Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993. Rees continued to work mainly in theater, but he also appeared in several TV movies and sitcoms. He put his crisp British pronunciation to work as a voice actor in several cartoons and books on tape. In 2002, he returned to films with a few featured roles, including Guillermo Kahlo in Julie Taymor's biography Frida. He also landed the starring role of Virginia farmer Nat Banks in the drama Crazy Like a Fox during the same year. Rees had a recurring role on The West Wing, playing the British Ambassador, and later had recurring roles on Grey's Anatomy, Warehouse 13 and Elementary. In 2012, he was nominated for a Tony award for directing Peter and the Starcatcher, and continued to work on the stage until his death. In 2015, he appeared in the musical The Visit, opposite Chita Rivera. He withdrew from the show, for health reasons, in May 2015; he passed away two months later.

Trivia: Daughter of Jasper Carrott, a popular British comedian. One of her first jobs: packaging nuts and seeds at a health-food store. Appeared on the popular BBC radio drama The Archers for 10 years. Received a kidney transplant from her mother in 1997 after being diagnosed with kidney failure. Moved to L.A. in 2005, after the original BBC version of The Office went off the air. Appeared nude in a 2007 PETA advertisement against the bearskin hats worn by British royal guards. Volunteers with Camp Cocker, which rescues cocker spaniels from animal shelters with high kill rates in the L.A. area.

Trivia: Bearing an unconventional appeal that may have something to do with the slaphappy grin permanently stretched across his face, Breckin Meyer has made a name for himself playing characters that have an almost criminally laid-back attitude as their common denominator. Although he got his big break as endearing stoner Travis Birkenstock in Amy Heckerling's 1995 comedy Clueless, Meyer had been acting since he was 11 years old. Born in Minneapolis, MN, on May 7, 1974, Meyer was raised in Los Angeles, where he had early encounters with fame in the form of elementary school with Drew Barrymore (in her autobiography, Little Girl Lost, she credited Meyer with giving her her first kiss when she was ten and he was 11) and high school with a host of young actors, including future Clueless co-star Alicia Silverstone. Meyer got his start in commercials and television, appearing on various shows, including The Wonder Years. He had his rather inauspicious film debut in 1991, as one of the disposable teens in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, and had bit parts in various forgettable films and an appearance on Fox's Party of Five before being cast in Clueless.Following the huge success of Clueless, Meyer went on to appear in another teen movie, The Craft (1996). After secondary roles in Touch and Prefontaine (both 1997), the actor had a fairly substantial part in 54, in which he got to play Salma Hayek's husband and wear a very small pair of shorts. The film, which starred Meyer's real-life friend Ryan Phillippe, flopped with remarkable gusto, and Meyer's other film that year, the independent Dancer, Texas Pop. 81, was released without fanfare. However, the actor had success the following year as part of an ensemble cast that read like a Who's Who of Hollywood's Young and Employed in Doug Liman's Go. Playing a white boy who believes he's black at heart, Meyer won laughs for his part in the widely acclaimed film, and his appearance in the company of young notables such as Katie Holmes, Sarah Polley, and Scott Wolf went some way toward further establishing the actor's reputation as a noteworthy young talent.A fine supporting player to this point in his fledgling career, Breckin would finally come into his own as the hapless college student racing cross country to intercept a decidedly questionable videotape in director Todd Phillips's breakout comedy Road Trip. Though a subsequent stab at the small screen as the lead in the sports comedy series Inside Schwartz ultimately did little to advance Meyer's career, later roles in the theatrical comedies Rat Race and Kate and Leopold served well to keep the amiable comic talent in the public eye. After providing the voice for the eponymous wooden puppet in Roberto Benigni's 2002 misfire Pinocchio, Breckin helped to bring everyone's favorite comic-strip cat to the big screen with his role as the lasagne-loving feline's hapless master Jon Arbuckle in the 2004 family comedy Garfield. Vocal work in such animated efforts as King of the Hill and Robot Chicken found the actor earning his keep even when not stepping in front of the cameras, and in 2006 Meyer would return to the silver screen to the delight of children everywhere in the kid-friendly sequel Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties. In the years to come, Meyer would also find success as a voice actor on shows like Titan Maximum, King of the Hill, Robot Chicken, and Franklin & Bash.

Trivia: Is of French and English descent.Was raised in Yorkshire, England.Made his debut as an actor performing in theaters.Is an avid sports fan, including soccer and Formula 1.Has had an extensive career in theater worldwide.Is skilled at guitar and piano.

Trivia: Enrolled into dancing school when he was 4-years-old.Decided to pursue a career in acting while she was still in high school.At the age of 17, joined the renowned Al Fann Theatrical Ensemble.Made her debut as an actress on screens in tv commercials.Has provided her voice to several animations over the years for Warner Bros and Hanna-Barbera Productions.Is an acting coach.

Trivia: Participated in community theater throughout Southern Illinois. Scored paid gigs on camera as a youth, through his father's production company, PoleStar Productions. Performed annually in a sketch-comedy show on New Year's Eve in Springfield, Illinois, with his brother and father. Wrote songs for the animated series The Looney Tunes Show. Performs with the Groundlings improv troupe, where he met wife Melissa McCarthy.

Trivia: Began her career as a teen model on the show This Morning. Made her breakthrough on British television playing the role of Marjorie "Precious" Hudson in BBC soap opera Eastenders. Was the host of a scrapped American reality show called When Woman Ruled the World, which filmed in 2007, but never aired. Found it tough after moving to Los Angeles due to failed auditions and cancelled shows, and had to do bar work and waitressing to make ends meet. Founder of Extension Evolution, a company supplying premium hair extensions, in 2011. Was the first celebrity to be ejected from the island of Fiji on ITV's Celebrity Love Island in 2013 after being voted off by viewers, and has said she was glad to leave before the in-fighting and back-stabbing began. Has set up her own website, www.makeitamerica.com, to enable young starlets to make the transition from the UK to the USA.

Trivia: Perhaps one of the most instantly recognizable -- yet seemingly unidentifiable -- character actors to have succeeded in Hollywood, Stephen Tobolowsky's non-movie star looks have enabled the native Texan to portray a wider variety of characters more conventional movie stars simply could not. Born and raised in Dallas, Tobolowsky attended Southern Methodist University for his undergraduate degree and went on to earn a Master's degree in acting from the University of Illinois. While at S.M.U., the young Tobolowsky won his first film role in a low-budget horror film entitled Keep My Grave Open. Soon after finishing his studies, he went west to Los Angeles and started working somewhat consistently in both television and film in the early '80s -- while gaining some notice for his work in the films Swing Shift and Mississippi Burning. After toiling on the West Coast for a few years, Tobolowsky became a bi-coastal star with a role in a 1981 Broadway production of Beth Henley's play The Wake of Jamey Foster. In 1986, he collaborated with Henley -- who also happened to be a fellow student of Tobolowsky's during his undergraduate studies at S.M.U. -- and David Byrne to co-write the script for Byrne's 1986 film True Stories. The multi-talented thespian then went on to write and direct his own play, Two Idiots in Hollywood, which he also turned into a film in 1988. The early '90s brought Tobolowsky his greatest exposure to the movie-going public, with a number of diverse and interesting roles that highlighted the actor's great range and skill -- nearly to the extent of upstaging these films' higher-profile stars. Perhaps the most prototypical Tobolowsky characterization can be found in the 1993 Harold Ramis comedy Groundhog Day, in which Tobolowsky portrayed the hapless insurance salesman Ned Ryerson. Other memorable performances from this decade include Thelma & Louise, Basic Instinct, Sneakers, and The Radioland Murders. Tobolowsky continued creating endearing characters into the 2000s, starting with Christopher Nolan's indy hit Memento. As amnesiac Sammy Jankis, Tobolowsky created one of the most powerful dramatic performances of his career. His next significant film role came via the 2002 Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman film Adaptation, which further displayed the nearly chameleon-like actor's range and talent that make him one of the best character actors in the industry. In the years to come, Tobolowsky would remain active on screen, appearing on shows like Glee and Californication.

Trivia: Attended University of Southern California on a debate scholarship. While touring as a stand-up comedian, he opened for such major acts as Rodney Dangerfield and Jerry Seinfeld. Won an NAACP award in 1990 for his role in the Ken Davis play Glass House. Portrayed Fats Domino in the 1999 made-for-TV movie Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story. Landed the role of Big Mike on Chuck after auditioning for the Harry Tang character.

Trivia: Scottish, versatile, and for a long time underappreciated, Alan Cumming is chameleon-like in both his choice of roles and his ability to inhabit them convincingly. Born January 27, 1965, in Perthshire, Scotland, Cumming studied drama at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before embarking on a career that would have its roots on the stage. For years, Cumming worked steadily in the theater as a member of repertory companies, such as the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1992 he had his film debut in the largely unheard of Prague, which was essentially a historical overview of the city. In 1994 American audiences were introduced to the sound of Cumming's voice thanks to his role as the narrator of Black Beauty, but it wasn't until 1995 (Cumming's other 1994 film, Second Best notwithstanding) that they actually saw him, this time via his small but memorable role as a Russian computer programmer in Goldeneye.Wider exposure followed, thanks to two successful films. The first, Circle of Friends (1995), featured Cumming as Minnie Driver's slimy, unwelcome suitor, and the second, 1996's Emma, saw Cumming playing yet another unwelcome suitor, this time to Gwyneth Paltrow. More sympathetic roles followed in For My Baby, Buddy, and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (in which he played a sweetly awkward nerd with a crush on Lisa Kudrow), all released in 1997. Work in Spice World came next in 1998, as did the stage role that was to give Cumming critical acclaim, a host of awards, and the wider respect he deserved. That role was Cabaret's Emcee, and Cumming managed to make the character -- previously the sole territory of Joel Grey -- all his own, giving a wickedly delicious performance that was unabashedly dark, sly, androgynous, and altogether terrifying. His performance won him all three New York theater awards: a Tony, a Drama Desk, and an Outer Critics Circle. This triumph resulted in a new range of opportunities for the actor, one of which was the chance to be a part of what was to be Stanley Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Although Cumming's role as a hotel desk clerk was a small one, the actor turned in a sly and insinuating performance that reflected his ability to make the most out of even the most limited opportunities.Cumming was subsequently given almost unlimited opportunities to showcase his flamboyance in Julie Taymor's Titus, her 1999 adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. In his role as the queen's (Jessica Lange) debauched lover, he gave a performance that was as over-the-top and rococo as the film itself, leading some critics to say his portrayal had a little too much in common with a Christmas ham.Fortunately, Cumming surprised critics and audiences alike when he directed, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Anniversary Party (2001), a marital comedy-drama that starred him and Leigh as a husband and wife whose anniversary party exposes the many flaws of their fragile marriage. Featuring a cast that included Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Gwyneth Paltrow, John C. Reilly, and Jennifer Beals, the film, which was shot on digital video, earned a fairly warm reception from critics, many of whom praised Cumming for his work both behind and in front of the camera.Cumming took the part of the bad guy in the first Spy Kids movie, a role he would repeat in the film's first two sequels. He also played the evil corporate manipulator in Josie and the Pussycats. He appeared in the musical remake of Reefer Madness in 2004, and that same year voiced a cat in the live action Garfield the movie. He worked steadily in a variety of projects including Gray Matters, Eloise: Eloise in Hollywood, and Dare, but found his biggest critical success on the small screen as part of the cast in the highly-respected CBS drama The Good Wife which began its run in 2009.